Ore-separator



' part of the current.

U rr n ST TES- PATENT FFECE.

- GORDON MOKAY, or NEWPORT, nnonn ISLAND, AND HADLEY r. FAIR- FIELD, or WEST MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

O-RE-SEPARATO R.

SPECIFIGATI0N forming part of; Letters Patent No. 291,067, dated January 1, 1884.

Application filed April 30, 1883. (No model.)

ToaZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GORDON MOKAY, of Newport, county of Newport, State of Rhode Island, and HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD, of West Medford, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Ore-Separators, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

Our invention relates to an ore-separator of that class in which the heavier and more valuable are separated from the lighter materials by the action of gravity.

In washing or separating ore, as heretofore generally practiced, the solid materials (a part of which are of comparatively small spewhich are of greater specific gravity and valuable) are acted upon by a current of water or air,in which the heavier and more valuable particles tend to settle or seek a lower position, while the lighter particles remain in the upper When a stream of water is employed, it has commonly been passed through a sluice or flume with a considerable velocity, the said flume being provided with obstructions, commonly called riffles, along its bottom, which practically check the flow of the stream at these points, and gradually collect the heavier particles from the lower portion of the stream, the said particles having had time to settle in the momentary check in the velocity of the stream, while the lighter particles are carried over the tops of the obstructions or riffles and discharged. After this operation has been going on for a considerable length of time, the heavier material will gradually accumulate until-it reaches thetops of the obstructions, after which there will be no further separation, andboth the lighter and heavier materialwill pass on andbe discharged. As commonly practiced, after the operation has been going on a sufiicient length of time to accumulate as much of the valuable material as the riffles can retain, the operation is stopped and the water out off from the sluice, and the latter is then cleaned up, or, inother words, has the accumulated valuable material removed to operate again as beforeto separate the materials. One or twoplanshave been proposed for discharging the valuable material tion on line a: m, Fig. 3. cific gravity and worthless, and another part of.

While the separation is going on, thus avoiding the necessity of stopping and cleaning up.

The present invention has for its object to produce a more efficient separator than that heretofore in use, and also to provide means for discharging the valuable material when separated from the worthless material without stopping the operation of separating; and the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter particularly specified and claimed.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a sluice provided with an ore-separating apparatus embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4. a transverse vertical sec- The sluice a, of usual construction, and inclined shown, to cause the water to flow at the proper velocity, has a portion of its bottom of less downward inclination, or upwardly inclined, as shown at b, Fig. 3, thus tending to produce a check in the flow of the water at such point. The said upwardly-inclined portion b of the bottom is provided with one or more riffles or shoulders, 0, shown in this-instance as formed by recessing a cylinder constituting the rotating riffle-carrier d, the latter being fitted into a suitable socket made in and through the under side of the bottom '1) of the sluice, as shown in the drawings, so that the said riffle-carrier forms a portion of the bottom of the flume. There will preferably be a number of the riflie-carriers, as shown, presenting a series of riffles to the stream. The stream charged with the materials to be separated flows over the riffle-carrier, and the uppermost riffle thereof causes a slight obstruction or'eddy to check the flow of the fluid,

which affords time for the heavier material,

which is carried in the lower portion of the stream, to settle into the space'of the rifflecarrier at the back of the riiile in the usual manner, the operation, however, being greatly improved, and the separation more thoroughly effected, on account of the said riffle being placed in the upwardly-inclined portion of the flume, where the velocity of the entire body of water receives somewhat of a check, tend from the riffles, leaving the apparatus ready" ing in itself to separate and collect the heavier from the, lighter matter.

It will be seen that byrotating the riffle-car riers d in their sockets in the bottom b of the fiume the recess or riffle c that has been uppermost and acted upon the stream flowing over it will be removed from the action of the said stream and a new one brought into its place, and that by the further rotation the said riifie c, that has been uppermost and arrested or become more or less charged with heavier material, will be brought to the under side of the rifiie-carrier d and to the bottom 1) of the sluice or flume, when the heavy material will be discharged from the said recess back of the rifile, and will fall into the box e, placed to receive it, and made tight and strong, to prevent tampering of unauthorized persons. The riflie-carriers are shown in this instance as automatically rotated, to thus discharge their contents by'mechanism actuated by the flow of the stream through the fiume, the said mechanism being adapted to produce an intermittent movement of the riffle earriers, turning them for a distance equal to the space between the adjacent riffies at the ends of certain intervals of time, so that one rifile is quickly removed from operative position and replaced by another. The actuating mechanism consists, in this instance, of a wheel, f, having buckets or wings, preferably of rubber, to resist the action oflarge stones or bowlders carried by the stream, the shaft f of the said wheel being provided with a worm, 71, engaging the worm-gear t on a shaft, i, provided with a worm, 2 meshing with a worm-gear, t, mounted on an axle at the side of the flume a. The shafts d of the riflie-earriers d (see Fig. 1) are provided with sprocket-wheels d, co-operating with a chain, (1 so that the entire series are caused to move simultaneously; and one of the said shafts is provided with an actuatiiigratehet, 7c, fixed thereon, and a pawlcarrier, m, loose thereon, provided with a pawl, 01, to act upon the teeth of the said ratchet, which correspond in position with the diiierent rifiies or recesses c of the rifliecarriers. The said pawl-carrier m is weighted and acted upon by a spring, m, tending to retain it supported on a stop, 0, (shown as made verticallyadj ustable,) its end then lying in the path of a projection, p, carried by the gear 1'", so that in the continuous rotation of the said gear-wheel, produced by the movement of the wheel f, the pawl-carrier will be gradually raised to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, bringing the pawl n into engagement with the succeeding tooth of the ratchet k. Vhen in the continued movement of the gearwheel 2' the projection passes by the pawl-carrier m, the latter falls by the action of the spring at, assisted by its own weight, and, through the pawl a, ratchet It, and chain and sprocket-gearing d d, rotates the entire series of rifiie-carriers, so as to present new and cmptyriflie-reccsses to the aetion'of the water in the bottom I) of the flume and bring the previously-filled riflle-recesses in position to discharge their contents into the box 0, as best shown in Fig. 3, after which the entire series of riffles will remain stationary until the projection 1; again operates the pawl-carrier after another revolution of the wheel i.

The gear will be so timed as to afford the proper interval between the successive operations of the pawl-carrier m to cause the riffierecess to become filled.

The riffle-carriers (Z may be made of rubber, as this material is well adapted for resisting the abrasive action of the stream sweeping over it.

By the term rifiie we mean a break or obstruction in the otherwise smooth or even surface over which the stream flows, constituting a space which becomes filled with dead or comparatively motionless water, in which the heavier material rapidly collects.

The rifiie-carrier may be turned by hand.

\Ve claim 1. The combination of a sluice through which a stream is kept continuously running, a series of riffles having pockets or receptacles to receive the heavier particles, and mechanism, substantially as described, operated by the running stream in the sluice to automatically rotate said riff'les periodically to discharge their contents and simultaneously present an empty pocket or receptacle for the reception of the material to be separated, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a sluice through which a stream is kept continuously running, a series of riffles having pockets or receptacles to receive the heavier particles, mechanism, substautially as described, operated by the running stream in the sluice to automatically rotate said riiiles periodically to discharge their contents and simultaneously present an empty pocket or receptacle for the reception of the material to be separated, and the tight strong box 6 beneath said riflies, into which the Miles discharge, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The sluice, the series of rifiies, the sprocket-wheels on the shaft of said rifiies, the connecting-chain, a pawl-and-ratchet mechanism on the shaft of one of said rifiies, and gearing connecting said mechanism with a wheel in the sluiceway, combined and arranged substantially as described.

4. The sluice and series of rotary riffle-carriers and connecting-gearing therefor, combined with the actuating-ratchet and pawl-carrier, and mechanism actuated by the flow of the stream in the sluice for moving the said pawl-carrierintermittingly, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GORDON MCKAY. HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD. \Vitnesses as to signature of Gordon McKay:

Srrnrro BERNARDIN, WM. L. WnLsH.

\Vitnesses as to signature of Hadley 1. Fair field:

JAMES Mason, D. J. COUGHLIN. 

